Toronto First Duty phase 3 report /

The intent of the project partners—the Atkinson Charitable Foundation, the Toronto District School Board and the City of Toronto Children’s Services—was to mobilize knowledge to improve early childhood programs and policy at both the local and provincial levels. [...] Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study has worked over the last decade to evaluate the implementation process and outcomes of the project, and has contributed to the knowledge mobilization for practice and policy change. [...] A prime design principle in the success of the TFD model is the provision of a cohesive universal platform to improve the reach and qual- ity of currently fragmented services. [...] Results comparing the demo- graphic characteristics of those families participating in TFD services and the general population of families in the surrounding community found that the parental clientele represented in the TFD intake and tracking database matched the demographics of the populations averaged across the five sites in terms of educational level and immigrant status (Corter et al., 2006 [...] Under the guidance of the principal and the early years coordinator, “the early years team underwent an intensive process of recalibrat- ing the program, re-focusing their goals and re-envisioning their professional commitment to an integrated early learning environment for the children that included the active involvement of parents” (Corter et.